Roller chart



Marchls, 1952 vM E, FOSTER 2,589,608

ROLLER CHART lFiled May e, 1948 fzzvear ar/zegs Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .A 2,589,608

ROLLER. CHART Melville E. Foster, Minneapolis, Minn. Application May 6, 1948, Serial N o. 25,440

1 Claim. (Cl. 242-107) This invention relates to a chart roller assembly which is particularly adaptable for holding v a rolled chart containing items of information such as stock listings in a stock room.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a simple, yet highly effective chart roller assembly to which an elongated chart can be readily attached and wherein the complete assembly can be conveniently supported on a vertical edge face or on the underside of a shelf in the stock room.

Another object of the invention is to provide a chart roller assembly which can be quickly and easily assembled and taken apart and wherein conveniently accessible means is provided for holding the assembly together and which is also adapted for readily adjusting the tension of a spring used to rewind the roller upon which the chart is mounted.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the views, and. in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational View of an embodiment of the invention mounted on the underside of a shelf;

Figure 2 is an enlarged rear elevational view, partially in section;

Figure 3 is an end elevation at the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a section taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an end elevation taken approximately at the line 5-5 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the crank structure.

The device includes a casing 1 having a top wall 8, a front Wall 9 and end assemblies I0 and I I. The casing top 8 may be provided with suitable holes I2 through Which attachment screws may be inserted. If desired, end brackets I3 having screw receiving openings I4 may be used so that the device can be secured to the edge of a shelf board.

The end assembly I I is provided with an aperture I5 and the end assembly I 0 is provided with a slot I6 which extends to the bottom edge of the Vend member and communicates with the open I8 has a stud I9 extending therethrough. The inner end of the stud is enlarged and threaded as at 20 and the outer end of said stud is threaded as at 2| to receive a knurled head 22which is tightly threaded on the stud I9. The stud is freely rotatable in the arm I8. The enlarged threaded portion 20 of the stud I9 is threaded into a threaded aperture 23 in the end I0. This holds the rod II in the inner end of the slot IB as shown in Figures 2 and 3 and also prevents said rod I'I from turning relative to the casing 'L Mounted on the rod I1 between the ends I0 and II is a roller 24 which is hollow and has a torsion spring 25 therein which lies about the rod I1. As viewed in Figure 2, the right-hand end 26 of the spring 25 is secured to the rod II and the left-hand end 21 of the spring 25 extends through the roller end 28 and is bent over so that it will be anchored securely.

A flexible chart 29 is shown in Figure 1. This may be of paper and be printed with listed information concerning articles of stock. The free end of the chart 29 is provided with a bar 30 which is of greater length than the open bottom portion of the casing 'I to provide a stop when the chart is Wound upon the roller.

The chart has the other end thereof suitably secured to the roller 24 and while the chart and roller are held against rotation, the crank arm I8 is rotated after the threaded stud I9 has been detached from the casing end I0. This will cause the torsion spring 25 to be Wound. When the desired tension has been placed upon the spring, the threaded stud I9 is threaded into the aperture 23 in the casing end I0. This will keep the spring under torsion and it will also retain the rod I1 against displacement from the inner end of the slot I6 in the casing end Ill.

When a chart is placed on the roller 24, the threaded stud I9 is released as described above and the rod II is slipped out of the slot I 6. Then the other end of the rod can be slipped axially from the aperture I5 in the casing end II.

The device is simple in constructionand highly effective for compactly holding a relatively large roller chart. It does not take up any considerable amount of space such as is required for a large cardboard stock chart and consequently can be placed at any convenient position on a series of shelves. The casing 'I is provided with a front wall 9 which has a straight lower edge 3I which greatly facilitates reading across a line of printing on the chart 29. When the desired information has been secured in any instance. the spring through to receive a roller rod, said second end;

member having a slot therein entrant from an edge thereof and communicating with said open longitudinal portion, a roller rod, a chart carryf ing roller rotatably mounted on said roller rod, a torsion spring connected at one end to said roller rod and at its other end to said roller, said rod having a first end projecting beyond one end of said roller and slidably removably receivable in the aperture in said rst end member, and said rodl having a second end projecting beyond the. other end of said roller and radially slidable through said slot in said second end meinbeigand cooperating releasable inter-,engaging means car- 4 ried by the second end of said rod and said second end member, the part of said inter-engaging means carried by the second end of said rod being xedly secured thereto and forming a handle for turning said rod relative to said roller to tension said spring whereby the spring can be properly tensioned, said rod Xed from turning after said spring is tensioned, so arranged that the roller and rod can yet be removed when desired from the casing.

MELVILLE E. FOSTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 805,977 Mattern Nov. 28, 1905 809,098 Derby Jan. 2, 1906 FGRELGN PATENTS Number Country Date 98,168 Sweden Feb. 27, 1940 105,411 Sweden Sept. 1, 1942 808,442 France Nov. 14, 1936 

